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JULIEANN HOVANESIAN, 77, TEACHER AND COMMUNITY ACTIVIST
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2009-0 8-18-julieann-hovanesian-77-teacher-and-community- activist
Tuesday August 18, 2009
Laguna Beach, Calif. - After a long battle with declining health,
Julieann P. Der Hovanesian, a respected community leader in her former
hometown of Farmington Hills, Mich., died peacefully July 4.
Ms. Hovanesian was born Julieann Pearl Piligian in Detroit in 1931
and grew up in the home of her Armenian immigrant parents, John
and Isgouhi "Ethel" Piligian with her two brothers, Roy and John,
on Linwood Avenue near the city's center during its heyday as a
manufacturing hub and urban magnet for immigrant families seeking
employment. Known to close childhood friends as "Pearlie" or "Kouhar,"
she attended Cooley High School, graduating cum laude in 1949, and went
on to earn a bachelor's degree and teaching credential from Detroit's
Wayne State University. For 12 years she taught fifth grade in the
Detroit Public School system, earning distinction in her role as a
"mentor teacher" to beginning educators. Her education continued well
into the 1970s when she earned a master's degree in child psychology.
A lifetime member of St. John's Armenian Church in Southfield,
Ms. Hovanesian is remembered fondly by Rev. Fr. Garabed Kochakian,
Pastor at St. John's. "Julieann was a much loved member of her
spiritual home St. John Armenian Church where she served with devotion
and diligence in many of the parish organizations. Fondly remembered
as a caring teacher of Christian Education in the Church School,
an active and creative member of the parish Women's Guild and also
singing praise to the Lord in the parish Komitas Choir, she has left
a legacy of love and a wonderful example for others to follow. Truly
she will be missed but never forgotten by all whose lives she touched,"
said Fr. Kochakian.
In 1960 she married Joseph Der Hovanesian, an assistant professor
of engineering at Detroit's Wayne State University who later became
professor and chairperson of mechanical engineering at Oakland
University in Rochester, Mich. The couple had two sons, Charles
and John.
Ms. Hovanesian became known as a community activist in 1980 when she
founded Citizens for More Responsible Government. This governmental
watchdog group, based in Detroit's suburbs, called for referendums
when local governments took actions that did not meet with public
approval. In the early 1980s, through a referendum it quelled plans for
a proposed low-income housing project in Farmington Hills, Michigan,
and successfully backed a slate of new city council members who were
more responsive to public outcry about the projects. The housing
project was converted to much-needed and well-accepted low-income
housing for seniors only.
In later years, she was an active member of her city's Historical
Commission and Committee to Increase Voter Participation. As part
of the latter group, she created, produced, directed, and hosted an
award-winning local television program called "My Vote Counts."
An avid cook, Ms. Hovanesian was known as a kitchen wizard for her
varied recipes, many of them Armenian, which friends and family
relished when they visited her Farmington Hills home.
She is survived by her two sons, her brother John Piligian, and three
grandchildren, Joseph, Ani, and Daniel Hovanesian.
In lieu of flowers tax-deductible donations may be made "in memory
of Julieann Hovanesian" and payable to St. Mary Armenian Church,
148 22nd St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627-1715.
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2009-0 8-18-julieann-hovanesian-77-teacher-and-community- activist
Tuesday August 18, 2009
Laguna Beach, Calif. - After a long battle with declining health,
Julieann P. Der Hovanesian, a respected community leader in her former
hometown of Farmington Hills, Mich., died peacefully July 4.
Ms. Hovanesian was born Julieann Pearl Piligian in Detroit in 1931
and grew up in the home of her Armenian immigrant parents, John
and Isgouhi "Ethel" Piligian with her two brothers, Roy and John,
on Linwood Avenue near the city's center during its heyday as a
manufacturing hub and urban magnet for immigrant families seeking
employment. Known to close childhood friends as "Pearlie" or "Kouhar,"
she attended Cooley High School, graduating cum laude in 1949, and went
on to earn a bachelor's degree and teaching credential from Detroit's
Wayne State University. For 12 years she taught fifth grade in the
Detroit Public School system, earning distinction in her role as a
"mentor teacher" to beginning educators. Her education continued well
into the 1970s when she earned a master's degree in child psychology.
A lifetime member of St. John's Armenian Church in Southfield,
Ms. Hovanesian is remembered fondly by Rev. Fr. Garabed Kochakian,
Pastor at St. John's. "Julieann was a much loved member of her
spiritual home St. John Armenian Church where she served with devotion
and diligence in many of the parish organizations. Fondly remembered
as a caring teacher of Christian Education in the Church School,
an active and creative member of the parish Women's Guild and also
singing praise to the Lord in the parish Komitas Choir, she has left
a legacy of love and a wonderful example for others to follow. Truly
she will be missed but never forgotten by all whose lives she touched,"
said Fr. Kochakian.
In 1960 she married Joseph Der Hovanesian, an assistant professor
of engineering at Detroit's Wayne State University who later became
professor and chairperson of mechanical engineering at Oakland
University in Rochester, Mich. The couple had two sons, Charles
and John.
Ms. Hovanesian became known as a community activist in 1980 when she
founded Citizens for More Responsible Government. This governmental
watchdog group, based in Detroit's suburbs, called for referendums
when local governments took actions that did not meet with public
approval. In the early 1980s, through a referendum it quelled plans for
a proposed low-income housing project in Farmington Hills, Michigan,
and successfully backed a slate of new city council members who were
more responsive to public outcry about the projects. The housing
project was converted to much-needed and well-accepted low-income
housing for seniors only.
In later years, she was an active member of her city's Historical
Commission and Committee to Increase Voter Participation. As part
of the latter group, she created, produced, directed, and hosted an
award-winning local television program called "My Vote Counts."
An avid cook, Ms. Hovanesian was known as a kitchen wizard for her
varied recipes, many of them Armenian, which friends and family
relished when they visited her Farmington Hills home.
She is survived by her two sons, her brother John Piligian, and three
grandchildren, Joseph, Ani, and Daniel Hovanesian.
In lieu of flowers tax-deductible donations may be made "in memory
of Julieann Hovanesian" and payable to St. Mary Armenian Church,
148 22nd St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627-1715.